Google Chrome is downloading a 4 GB Gemini Nano model onto users' machines without consent, with no opt-in, no opt-out short of enterprise tooling, and an automatic re-download every time the user deletes it. The pattern is identical to the Anthropic Claude Desktop case I wrote about last month, but the scale is between two and three orders of magnitude larger. This article does the legal analysis and, for the first time, the environmental analysis. The numbers are not small.
Data center operators can and will negotiate yearly rates for bulk electricity up. That’s how they can guarantee supply, by paying more than the competition. Small local distributors will never have that kind of leverage, that’s why consumers end up paying more.
So yes, you are correct in saying that corporations and billionaires are the problem, but in this particular case, it’s because of a particular subset of those.
Data center operators can and will negotiate yearly rates for bulk electricity up. That’s how they can guarantee supply, by paying more than the competition. Small local distributors will never have that kind of leverage, that’s why consumers end up paying more.
So yes, you are correct in saying that corporations and billionaires are the problem, but in this particular case, it’s because of a particular subset of those.